Simulation model of the fractal patterns in ionic conducting polymer films

Normally polymer electrolyte membranes are prepared and studied for applications in electrochemical devices. In this work, polymer electrolyte membranes have been used as the media to culture fractals. In order to simulate the growth patterns and stages of the fractals, a model has been identified based on the Brownian motion theory. A computer coding has been developed for the model to simulate and visualize the fractal growth. This computer program has been successful in simulating the growth of the fractal and in calculating the fractal dimension of each of the simulated fractal patterns. The fractal dimensions of the simulated fractals are comparable with the values obtained in the original fractals observed in the polymer electrolyte membrane. This indicates that the model developed in the present work is within acceptable conformity with the original fractal.     

Shape-controlled synthesis of diamond crystal by epitaxial growth under high pressure and high temperature conditions

In this paper, the diamond epitaxial growth mechanism has been studied in detail by employing several types of diamond as a seed in a catalyst-graphite system under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) conditions. We find that the diamond nucleation, growth rate, crystal orientation, and morphology are significantly influenced by the original seeds. The smooth surfaces of seeds are beneficial for the fabrication of high-quality diamond. Our results reveal that the diamond morphology is mainly determined by the original shape of seeds in the early growth stage, but it has an adjustment process during the growth and leads to well symmetry. Additionally, we have also established the growth model for the twinned diamond grown on several seeds, and proposed the possible growth processes by tracking the particular shapes of seeds before and after treatment under HPHT conditions. These results suggest that the shape-controlled synthesis of diamond with well morphology can be realized by employing certain suitable diamond seeds. This work is expected to play an important role in the preparation of trustworthy diamond-based electronic and photonic devices.     

Temperature-Programmed Growth of Quasi-Free-Standing N-Doped Graphene Single Crystals from Acetonitrile Molecules

JETP Letters - This paper presents an original technique for temperature-programmed growth of N-doped substrate-sized graphene single crystals on Ni(111). The process includes acetonitrile...     

An extensive 3D dislocation dynamics investigation of stage-I fatigue crack propagation

Stage-I fatigue crack propagation is investigated using 3D discrete dislocation dynamics (DD) simulations. Slip-based propagation mechanisms and the role of the pre-existing slip band on the crack path are emphasized. Stage-I crack growth is found to be compatible with successive decohesion of the persistent slip band/matrix interface rather than a mere effect of plastic irreversibility. Corresponding crack tip slip displacement magnitude and the associated crack growth rate are evaluated quantitatively at various tip distances from the grain boundary. This shows that grain boundaries systematically amplify slip dispersion ahead of the crack tip and consequently, slow down the stage-I crack growth rate. The results help in developing an original crack propagation model, accounting for the boundary effects relevant to polycrystals. The crack growth trend is then evaluated from calculations of the energy changes due to crack length increments. It is shown that the crack necessarily propagates by increments smaller than 10 nm.     

"Magic" heteroepitaxial growth on vicinal surfaces

The step period (Lambda) of vicinal surfaces can be used as a new parameter for the control of metallic heteroepitaxial growth. This is evidenced here in the case of Ag/Cu(211). The deposition of 1 monolayer (ML) exhibits a c(2 x 10) superstructure leading to the formation of [111] steps in the Ag adlayer in contrast with the original [100] steps for the Cu substrate. This wetting layer can be viewed as a (133) Ag plane and it will be the starting point for the epitaxial growth. The deposition of 4 ML shows that the thin Ag film results homogeneous and no twins or stacking faults are detected. Moreover, the film grows along the [133] axis which is the orientation that minimizes the misfit between Cu(211) and the Ag film. Thus, the use of a regular stepped substrate allows one to select the crystallographic orientation of the growth and seems to be a way to avoid the creation of stacking faults.     

纳米氧化锌的过饱和控制生长与大小分布控制.

"在非水介质中合成了纳米氧化锌,测定了纳米氧化锌的紫外吸收光谱,并用有效质量模型计算了粒子大小,开发并命名了一种称之为纳米粒子过饱和控制生长的技术,该技术涉及将小的纳米粒子悬浊液加入到大的粒子悬浊液中,结果因为不同大小粒子间的溶解度差异小的粒子将全部溶解,大的粒子将整体长大,大粒子悬浊液的粒子数将保持不变,大粒子的生长速度显著比Ostwald老化的高．该技术最显著的特征是只要最初两悬浊液粒子大小的差异足够大,分布不是太宽,则粒子大小的分布将会因为粒子如此长大而变窄．"     

Testing the Goodwin growth-cycle macroeconomic dynamics in Brazil

This paper discusses the empirical validity of Goodwin’s (1967) macroeconomic model of growth with cycles by assuming that the individual income distribution of the Brazilian society is described by the Gompertz–Pareto distribution (GPD). This is formed by the combination of the Gompertz curve, representing the overwhelming majority of the population (∼99%), with the Pareto power law, representing the tiny richest part (∼1%). In line with Goodwin’s original model, we identify the Gompertzian part with the workers and the Paretian component with the class of capitalists. Since the GPD parameters are obtained for each year and the Goodwin macroeconomics is a time evolving model, we use previously determined, and further extended here, Brazilian GPD parameters, as well as unemployment data, to study the time evolution of these quantities in Brazil from 1981 to 2009 by means of the Goodwin dynamics. This is done in the original Goodwin model and an extension advanced by Desai et al. (2006). As far as Brazilian data is concerned, our results show partial qualitative and quantitative agreement with both models in the studied time period, although the original one provides better data fit. Nevertheless, both models fall short of a good empirical agreement as they predict single center cycles which were not found in the data. We discuss the specific points where the Goodwin dynamics must be improved in order to provide a more realistic representation of the dynamics of economic systems.     

基于径向增长因子的二维不变流形计算

在计算二维不变流形时,为均衡各方向的增长速度,便于构建动力系统的全局流形结构,引入径向控制因子对原始动力学系统进行归一化.以流的切向量的径向分量为标准,控制其在径向的增长速度.理论分析和实例计算的结果均表明,归一化后的动力学系统和原始系统的流同轨,即全局流形结构一致.最后,通过对Lorenz和Duffing系统的流形计...     

Spatial features of a light-induced local restructuring of domain structure in the monocrystal Y3Fe5O12:Si

The features of the formation and growth of the nucleus of a new magnetic phase in a monocrystal (110)-plate of Y₃Fe₅O₁₂:Si with an initial domain structure are experimentally studied. The formation times of the nuclei and the photoinduced domains formed as a result of the growth of the nuclei are obtained for various relative positions of the illuminated local domain and the domain boundary of the original domain structure. The influence that the original domain structure has on the formation and growth of a nucleus is shown.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 44–48, November, 1989.     

Growth mechanism of Si-faceted dendrites

The growth mechanism of Si-faceted dendrite was studied using an in situ observational technique. We directly observed the growth processes of Si-faceted dendrites from Si melts. It is found that triangular corners with an angle of 60 degrees are formed at the dendrite tip. We present an original growth model for faceted dendrites based on the experimental evidence. The model fully explains the growth process of faceted dendrites.     

Studies of fractal growth patterns in poly (ethylene oxide) and chitosan membranes

Polymer electrolyte membranes containing various weight percent of salt have been prepared in the authors’ laboratory for the study of their potential applications in solid state electrochemical devices; however, the polymer electrolyte membranes were found to become sort of media for fractal growth, months after they were prepared. Fractal growth patterns in polymer membranes of poly (ethylene oxide) and chitosan membranes have been analyzed, and their fractal dimensions were determined. A diffusion-limited aggregate model which is based on the Brownian motion theory is applied to simulate the experimentally obtained fractal patterns. The approach was extended by performing computer simulations with computing resources available. The fractal dimension values of the simulated and the experimentally obtained original fractal patterns were marginally close. This indicates that the simulation work has successfully produced fractal patterns that are in fairly acceptable conformity with the fractal patterns observed in the polymer membranes.     

Emergence of self-replicating structures in a cellular automata space

Past cellular automata models of self-replication have always been initialized with an original copy of the structure that will replicate, and have been based on a transition function that only works for a single, specific structure. This article demonstrates for the first time that it is possible to create cellular automata models in which a self-replicating structure emerges from an initial state having a random density and distribution of individual components. These emergent self-replicating structures employ a fairly general rule set that can support the replication of structures of different sizes and their growth from smaller to larger ones. This rule set also allows “random” interactions of self-replicating structures with each other and with other structures within the cellular automata space. Systematic simulations show that emergence and growth of replicants occurs often and is essentially independent of the cellular space size, initial random pattern of components, and initial density of components, over a broad range of these parameters. The number of replicants and the total number of components they incorporate generally approach quasi-stable values with time.     

Application of curve of growth to absorption spectral lines

The definition and use of the curve of growth is explained and a simple original approximation for it is given which is good enough for most experimental purposes. The derivation of the approximate expression is given in the Appendix.     

对微小尺寸hBN、cBN晶体的电镜观测

 利用高分辨率（0.2 nm）电子显微镜对经高温高压处理的hBN-触媒体系中纳米尺度的产物进行了观察，并通过电子衍射方法确定了其中的hBN、cBN相。结果表明，hBN、cBN晶粒在200~300 nm尺寸范围内时其自身结构已确定，但其外观不具有各自的晶体特征。推断该种尺寸的晶粒处于成核生长的初期阶段，从热力学公式粗略估算，临界晶粒尺寸在百纳米左右。     

Visibility graph analysis on quarterly macroeconomic series of China based on complex network theory

The visibility graph approach and complex network theory provide a new insight into time series analysis. The inheritance of the visibility graph from the original time series was further explored in the paper. We found that degree distributions of visibility graphs extracted from Pseudo Brownian Motion series obtained by the Frequency Domain algorithm exhibit exponential behaviors, in which the exponential exponent is a binomial function of the Hurst index inherited in the time series. Our simulations presented that the quantitative relations between the Hurst indexes and the exponents of degree distribution function are different for different series and the visibility graph inherits some important features of the original time series. Further, we convert some quarterly macroeconomic series including the growth rates of value-added of three industry series and the growth rates of Gross Domestic Product series of China to graphs by the visibility algorithm and explore the topological properties of graphs associated from the four macroeconomic series, namely, the degree distribution and correlations, the clustering coefficient, the average path length, and community structure. Based on complex network analysis we find degree distributions of associated networks from the growth rates of value-added of three industry series are almost exponential and the degree distributions of associated networks from the growth rates of GDP series are scale free. We also discussed the assortativity and disassortativity of the four associated networks as they are related to the evolutionary process of the original macroeconomic series. All the constructed networks have “small-world” features. The community structures of associated networks suggest dynamic changes of the original macroeconomic series. We also detected the relationship among government policy changes, community structures of associated networks and macroeconomic dynamics. We find great influences of government policies in China on the changes of dynamics of GDP and the three industries adjustment. The work in our paper provides a new way to understand the dynamics of economic development.     

Localized CO2 laser treatment and post-heating process to reduce the growth coef f icient of fused silica surface damage

The lifetime of optical components in high-fluence ultraviolet (UV) laser applications is typically limited by laser-initiated damage and its subsequent growth. Using 10.6-μ m CO 2 laser pulses, we successfully mitigate 355-nm laser induced damage sites on fused silica surface with dimensions less than 200 μ m. The damage threshold increases and the damage growth mitigates. However, the growth coefficients of new damage on the CO 2 laser processed area are higher than those of the original sample. The damage grows with crack propagation for residual stress after CO 2 laser irradiation. Furthermore, post-heating is beneficial to the release of residual stress and slows down the damage growth.     

Dependence of TL-property changes of natural quartzes on aluminium contents accompanied by thermal annealing treatment

The TL properties were investigated using both an IPDA (Intersified Photo-Diode Array) spectrometric system and a TLCI (Thermoluminescence Colour Image) method after thermal annealing treatment at several temperatures. An apparent colour change from original blue- (BTL) to red-TL(RTL) has unexpectedly occurred in a Z-cut slice of Madagascar quartz, after an annealing treatment around 1000°C. From the TL-colour change studies of the Z-cut slice, it was confirmed that original BTL intensities are inversely proportional to the Al contents; the TLCI-patterns of the original or annealed Z-cut slice gave stripe patterns corresponding to Al impurity contents along the crystal growth direction particularly yielding an intense appearance of RTL on higher Al contents after the annealing treatment. This changeability of TL-colour towards RTL after thermal annealing treatment was found to be intimately correlated with the square of Al concentrations, although BTL clearly changed as linearly proportional to Al impurity contents. Finally, the cleavage of Al-O-Al bonds or some sites in the vicinity of Al-O-Al bonds were plausibly considered to play an important role for the formation of RTL colour centres in natural quartzes as a result of the operation of high temperature effects.     

Self-Organized Criticality Analysis of Earthquake Model Based on Heterogeneous Networks

The original Olami-Feder-Christensen (OFC) model, which displays a robust power-law behavior, is a quasistatic two-dimensional version of the Burridge--Knopoff spring-block model of earthquakes. In this paper, we introduce a modified OFC model based on heterogeneous network, improving the redistribution rule of the original model. It can be seen as a generalization of the original OFC model. We numerically investigate the influence of theparameters θ and β, which respectively control the intensity of the evolutivemechanism of the topological growth and the inner selection dynamicsin our networks, and find that there are two distinct phases in theparameter space (θ, β). Meanwhile, we study the influence of the control parameter a either. Increasing a, the earthquake behavior of the model transfers from local to global.     

Role of atomic transverse migration in growth of diamond-like carbon films

The growth of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The effect of impact angle on film structure is carefully studied, which shows that the transverse migration of the incident atoms is the main channel of film relaxation. A transverse-migration-induced film relaxation model is presented to elucidate the process of film relaxation which advances the original model of subplantation. The process of DLC film growth on a rough surface is also investigated, as well as the evolution of microstructure and surface morphology of the film. A preferential-to-homogeneous growth mode and a smoothing of the film are observed, which are due to the transverse migration of the incident atoms.     

Growth kinetics and long-term stability of CdS nanoparticles in aqueous solution under ambient conditions

The ubiquity of naturally occurring nanoparticles in the aquatic environment is now widely accepted, but a better understanding of the conditions that promote their formation and persistence is needed. Using cadmium sulfide (CdS) as a model metal sulfide species, thiolate-capped CdS nanoparticles were prepared in the laboratory to evaluate how aquatic conditions influence metal sulfide nanoparticle growth and stability. This work examines CdS nanoparticle growth directly in aqueous solution at room temperature by utilizing the size-dependent spectroscopic properties of semiconductors detectable by UV/vis. CdS nanoparticle growth was governed by oriented attachment, a non-classical mechanism of crystallization in which small precursor nanoparticles coalesce to form larger nanoparticle products. Nanoparticle growth was slowed with increasing capping agent and decreasing ionic strength. In addition to examining the short-term (hours) growth of the nanoparticles, a long-term study was conducted in which cysteine-capped CdS nanoparticles were monitored over 3 weeks in solutions of various ionic strengths. The long-term study revealed an apparent shift from small nanoparticles to nanoparticles twice their original size, suggesting nanoparticle growth may continue through oriented attachment over longer time scales. High-ionic strength solutions resulted in salt-induced aggregation and eventual settling of nanoparticles within days, whereas low-ionic strength solutions were stable against settling over the course of the experiment. Sulfide recovery from cysteine-capped CdS nanoparticles as acid volatile sulfide was nearly quantitative after 2 weeks in fully oxygenated water, demonstrating significantly slowed oxidation of sulfide when complexed to Cd(II) within CdS nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were also shown to be resistant to oxidation by Fe(III) (hydr)oxide. This study illustrates that aggregation, rather than chemical oxidation, is likely more important to the lifetime of many metal sulfide nanoparticles in the aquatic environment.